Potato salad to go w Super Bowl Burgers?

[brownonthebeach]

I'm not a huge potato salad fan, but have been tasked with bringing this to a Super Bowl potluck. Help.

[luv2bake]

I absolutely love potato salad, but I don't make it very often. First of all, if I'm going to indulge in such a multitude of carbs, I'm going to pick something chocolate. Second, it's kind of a pain to make. (But I'm weird about that. Like I don't mind making a labor-intensive spanakopita, but I hate making Jell-o. So my quirks need to be taken into consideration on that statement!)

However, my mom makes the best potato salad in the entire world. (This is not just my opinion, either. I think my sister-in-law married my brother for my mom's potato salad. haha) She doesn't use a recipe, but I can give you the basics. It sounds like typical potato salad, and I can't tell you what makes hers so darn good, but you will at least have a good, basic potato salad.

Boil the potatoes whole. After cooking, you can remove the skins, leave them on, half and half, whatever. My mom cuts hers in maybe 1/2" chunks, but sometimes she goes a little bigger. After they cool completely, stir in mayonnaise (Hellmann's is best, in our opinion, for this), finely chopped celery, chopped hard-boiled eggs, a little bit of prepared mustard, salt & pepper to taste, and (if you want - we often don't include it) some dill relish. I know it's the proportions and consistency and my mom's magic that make hers the best, but you can make a close variation. :)

I also had a great recipe for hot German potato salad that I was making for a while. I can't find it in MasterCook now. I'll see if it's in my recipe file and post if I find it.

[soypower]

Your post reminded me of that youtube video on peeling potatoes...have you seen this? amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORliOy...

[luv2bake]

OK, I found my German potato salad. I'm going to have to make it again. Haven't made it in about 6 or 7 years, and I forgot how much I liked it! :)

8 potatoes (cooked, chopped/sliced, lightly salted w/sea salt)
(optional - a bell pepper cut in rings. I don't use this.)
1 small jar (6 - 8 oz, probably) of sweet relish (not a big fan of sweet relish, but it works in this, imo)
about 3/4 - 1 c. of pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
bacon (cooked & crumbled, optional)

Dressing:
3/4 cup oil (I use half olive oil and half canola or other similar oil)
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. dry mustard
1 t. celery seed (or more if you like)
1 onion (sweet-ish, very finely sliced)

Arrange the top ingredients in layers in a heat-proof bowl.

Mix together all the dressing ingredients in a (preferably non-aluminum) pot. Bring to boil.

Pour the hot dressing over the arranged layers in the bowl. Mix and serve hot or cold.

[RichK]

No way can you call that "german". No self respecting German would put sweet relish and stuffed green olives in their potato salad!

[MakingSense]

Cooks Illustrated had one of their fabulous anal-retentive recipes recently for All-American Potato Salad that was remarkably like luv2bake's mom's version. Unfortunately, you have to be a member to access the entire article.
The conclusion they reached was: Keep it simple.
They suggested using russets after their experiments cooking their usual truckload. They also splashed the hot potatoes with a little vinegar before adding the mayo and other ingredients. Other than that, no big secrets. Onion, celery, sweet relish, s &p, mayo, mustard. The eggs were optional.
I'm feeling sorta smug that I've reached a similar conclusion and recipe by trial and error over many years. Thank God for CI and all their work.

The potato salad at the volunteer fire department near my house in the country is beloved far and wide. I help out peeling potatoes and such but I watch the older women make it and I can tell you that it is as basic as you can get. Why it tastes so wonderful is anybody's guess.
Maybe Classic Potato Salad is something you shouldn't mess with too much.

[Val]

Yes yes yes...vinegar on the still-hot cut up potatoes is SO important in my opinion...(I actually use vinegar and a LITTLE vegetable oil mixed up together)...allow that to cool along with your finely chopped red onion and celery and parsley...refrigerate and THEN add your mayo or whatever dressing, you're good to go.

[luv2bake]

Oh, geez, yes, my mom definitely uses vinegar!! You need it to make the mayo not so thick and to give it a bit of a tang. Just a little vinegar, but it's necessary.

[mothrpoet]

I have a wonderful Mediterranean-style salad with no mayo, so you can serve it at room temp and keep it out. Boil your potatoes, peel, cut into slices. Add some finely minced onion, either white or red. Chop up fresh rosemary and thyme, add that. The dressing is fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I don't know my proportions, but the dressing should have a nice lemony zip, and the potatoes should have some gloss from the good-quality olive oil. This salad has made me a goddess!!!!

[JenMarie66]

i make a dressing with mayonaise, red wine vinegar, S&P, a little crushed red pepper, a little minced garlic, and a LOT of chopped dill. mix with the cooled potatoes plus celery. capers make a nice addition, too.
(i also make a non-mayo version like mpoet's, but somehow mayo and football seem to go together.)

[MeowMixx]

I forgot where I found this recipe but I love it:

6 large eggs
A pinch plus 2 teaspoons salt
3 pounds new potatoes, washed and quartered
1/2 pound sliced bacon, cut into small dice
3/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Creole or whole-grain mustard
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3/4 cup finely chopped red onions
1/2 cup chopped green onions or scallions (green part only)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put the eggs in a saucepan and cover with water, add the pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain, then cool in a bowl of ice water. Peel and chop.

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan with 1 teaspoon of the salt and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until fork-tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. Let cool to room temperature.

Fry the bacon until crisp, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a large salad bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, hot sauce, red onions, green onions, garlic, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper. Whisk to blend. Add the eggs, potatoes, and bacon and toss to coat evenly. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

[ballulah]

I know everyone's everything (or everyone's Mom's) is the best ever, but I really do make a mean potato salad. It has kind of a southwestern kick, without getting too frou frou. I use small russets, boiled with the skin on, then I leave the peel on and cut them in half. I pour in a little juice from a pickle jar and a splash of apple cider vinegar, I like the briney flavor better than straight vinegar. I added salt, pepper, mayo (not so much that it's swimming, just a couple of really scooping good dollops for about 3-4 lbs of potatoes), dijon mustard (I like the texture that whole grain mustard adds), chopped hard boiled egg and chopped dill pickle (rather than relish)...and so far I'm traveling the straight and narrow. Then I deviate, I add scallions, chopped jalapenos, bacon (!!!) and cilantro and a little cayenne. It's seriously one hell of a potato salad.

[bolivianita]

A trick I learned with potato sald is to cube the taters, place them in boiling water with a splash of vinegar. It keep the potatoes "crisp" so they aren't falling apart when you mix it all up with the dressing.
Peas are great in potato sald. Just toss them in frozen! Add curry powder to your mayo, your peas and potatoes!
Toss the potatoes with olive oil and salt while they are still warm. Let it rest and retraste for seasoning. Its going to need more salt or something.
Instead of mayo use cottage cheese and mayo.
Don't do all of these at once, these are all just different things that made me appreciate potato sald a lot more.

[chowser]

I've posted this before but I love Bon Appetit's Red, White and Blue potato salad. It's a twist on regular potato salads and has blue cheese. Seems perfect for an all american sort of day.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[greenstate]

Boil russett potatos. Cool and cut into 1 inch pieces. Toss with cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Peel and seed cucumber. Cut it in half and slice about 1/4 inch thick. Hardboil eggs and mix with potatos, cucumbers and Hellmans mayo. Season to taste and serve at room temp.

[personalcheffie]

This is a fab recipe, and you let the warm potatoes soak up the red wine vinegar and oil which is a must for good flavor.

* Exported from MasterCook *

CREAMY POTATO SALAD

Recipe By :April 1999
Doris Lutati, Mevasseret Tzion, Israel

Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 large eggs
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup corn oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds potatoes -- medium
1 medium onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
2 celery ribs
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Hard-boil eggs. In a large bowl whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper. In a 5-quart kettle cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches and simmer until just tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander. While potatoes are still warm, peel and cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Gently toss potatoes with dressing until combined well and let cool. (Potatoes will absorb most of dressing.)
Finely chop onion and bell peppers and diagonally cut celery into thin slices. Add vegetables to potatoes and toss well. Chop hard-boiled eggs and add to potatoes with mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste. Gently stir salad until combined well. Chill salad, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days. Serve salad chilled or at cool room temperature.

[DiningDiva]

Ya'll are missing the key ingredient for potato salad............celery seed.

[luv2bake]

Hey, I had it in my not-a-self-respecting-German recipe!!

I LOVE it in my cole slaw. Can't get enough.

[FoodFuser]

Yep, celery seed in both tater salad and slaw. If you grind it in a mortar and pestle, the flavor intensifies and it becomes more of a "secret" note.

[NYchowcook]

Here's how I like my potato salad; Aftrer boiling potatoes (w/ skin on if organic), put into strainer and pour on top some white wine vinegar and olive oil; S&P. Let cool

mix together equal parts mayo and sour cream, chopped chives, dijon mustard 2 t. fresh tarragon and chopped shallot. A hard cooked egg is good too..

Alternately, mix together 6 T mayo, 1 T dijon mustard, 2 t. fresh tarragon, chopped, 1 T chopped shallot and 2 T chopped shallot. Hard cooked egg is good here too.

Stir mayo mixture into potatoes, and chill. Yum

[odkaty]

I don't like the mayo-based salads. The most-raved about is potatoes w/ skin, red onion, parmesan, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, ricotta, and garlic. The other I make is fresh dill, fresh green beans, potatoes, onions, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper. The first is my favorite, but when you have a garden full of green beans and are tired of canning ....